The Mark of the Beast
by Wu Chang
Summary: An item that creates, "I can feel the life within everything." destroys. "The power to wipe out an entire galaxy..." Solves, "The end of questions, of mysteries" and complicates. "Who am I? What have I turned into?" Such is the power of the Mark. rr


You are free to give any suggestions. Flame me, compliment, I don't really care. If it will help with my fanfiction, do it. You can even come over and beat me up. Just kidding.  
  
THE MARK OF THE BEAST CH. 1  
  
A loud roar arose from the stadium of glass that was brimming with sentient life forms that had come from other planets, galaxies and, sometimes, from an alternate universe. They had all come to watch an event that happened at each passing of the comet, Stajilah. This episode always took place within the arena of the colony Peavrti, which was positioned a couple of light-years away from the abandoned Milky Way galaxy. The three headed commentator began to state the rules for the finals. A figure wearing a black cloak with a strange white symbol, which vaguely resembled a yin-yang and a Kanji eternity sign, on the front made its way down the aisle. An extraterrestrial halted the stranger's progress and began to shout insults in a guttural tongue. The outsider looked at the being for a moment before snorting in disgust and vaporizing it. The ones that were about to speak up quickly quieted and accepted the intruder's presence. He continued down to the front row and sat down uncomfortably.  
"Filthy creatures." It said with a deep masculine voice. The cloaked man considered wiping out every single alien in the entire stadium but that would draw too much attention. He had already risked discovery by killing one already. He wasn't here to carry out his ideas for cleansing the universe. His dark musings were interrupted by the introduction of the fighters that were to participate in the finals.  
"We have, entering from the left, the human fighter...Draven!" the announcer boomed in a monstrously small voice as almost all of the audience cheered while a selective few booed good-naturedly as a boy around seventeen came into the light. Draven had light brown hair that he wore in a ponytail that reached down to about the middle of his back. His pure white fighting outfit reflected the artificial light in such a way that he seemed to glow. His boyish countenance was hard as he gazed about the coliseum silently. His emerald eyes burned with green fire as he raised his bo staff confidently which urged the onlookers to shout even louder. As his challenger was announced the stave was lowered with uncertainty but the spectators continued shouting, unaware. A loud howl erupted from the depths of the animal pit. The crowd went deathly still. They knew that sound and it struck fear into the very core of their being. A beast that no one has any hope of defeating, least of all a mere human, the lowest species on the food chain excluding the dumb animals of Earth, even with mechanical help. Able to withstand cannon blasts from a military vehicle, this was something to be feared. How the fiend got here from its remote corner of the universe without anyone's knowledge was what demanded attention as whispers began to float around. The unusual person in black was watching Draven intently, looking for a reaction. There was none on the outside, but he knew that on the inside the terror was strong and growing as several inhuman shrieks of pain echoed from the monster pit.  
"There goes the guard." The man laughed without humor as the human warrior in the center of the arena flinched. The boy was strong of course, but the man severely doubted that Draven would survive this fight, especially when a master of dark magic like himself was there to ensure that the human would not come out of this alive.  
To say that Draven was worried when he heard heavy footfalls that came closer every passing second would be a major understatement. If this thing didn't kill him when he lost for whatever reason, he would still be considered a worthless slave and be killed by his master. And if his master didn't eradicate him immediately the ones that had bet on him to win would surely do the job and save his master the trouble. All of the sudden, the young intergalactic gladiator felt eyes home in on him. Risking a quick glance, he saw someone clothed in black staring at him. Almost like the person wanted him to drop dead. That disturbed him. His opponent was identified and someone was out for his blood already? Unconsciously, his grip on the wooden pole tightened until his knuckles turned white. There was no other choice. He had to win or his life was forfeit. His face contorted with disgust as his enemy came into view. It's three gaping maws open and closed, dripping with yellow acidic saliva. Multiple soulless red eyes focused on him. It shuffled forward causing muscles to ripple under the surface of its scaly skin that grew taut with every move. It bellowed and waved its huge pinchers. Some spittle landed on the floor and began to eat through the titanium alloy. Draven grimaced. A native from the harsh planet Kandora. How quaint. That should be enough to kill him quite quickly if he wasn't careful. The man that had been observing the youth turned his attention to the newcomer and began to probe it with evil energies. Perfect. Maybe he wouldn't have to cast a spell after all. Just a little push at the beast's mind should make it lose all reason it had and attack all out. In a split second, it was done. The monster was now nursing a growing dark hatred for the small being in front of it. The whistle blew and the two fighters rushed each other. The sorcerer in the audience smiled. The game was on.  
Draven's view was taken up by the mass of the monstrosity before him. Feigning a right, he managed to somersault over it, avoiding certain death had he met it head-on, straight into it's mouths. He expected the sudden swipe of the tail and easily dodged it by jumping twenty feet in the air. What he wasn't prepared for though, was that the brute could actually follow him this high up. His punishment for making such a mistake was a damaging blow to the chest. He could feel his ribcage buckle under the strain as he was thrown back. He didn't land well. Crashing into walls hurt a lot. He decided as he stood up painfully with his eyes closed. The fans of this individual leaned forward in their seats. When his eyes snapped open, the fire that had started to fade when the monster revealed itself now burned with a intense light. He WOULD win. Or die trying. The feral creature finally realized that its target wasn't dead yet and got even more angry. As it charged him blindly, Draven leapt off to the side. When it turned, he wasn't there anymore, rather, above it delivering a harsh blow to the beast's head with his staff. The fighter had tried to punch it when he dove to the right before and noticed that it didn't do squat. While it didn't feel a thing, his fist was bleeding. The audience began to chant "human, human" over and over again to encourage him. Not only was his life on the line, their wallets were too. The Kandoran native growled menacingly in annoyance. That puny thing had managed hurt it! If it wasn't going to die before, it was dead now.  
Draven eluded his competitor frantically, pressing his advantage to the max. Since he was smaller than the hulking ugly, he was a much harder target to hit. Jump up, duck, spin kick under its chin, rebound off the back, flip, and land in ready position. He almost sang in his head. All that he did was evasive action in this screwed up game of cat-and-mouse." Landing about fifty yards away from the monster, Draven's mind began working on the ways to end this quickly. He was fast and the hits that he landed were good but how long could he keep it up? He was not willing to find out. As the beast turned towards him, he studied it. The thing had nineteen glowing eyes. Eighteen of them surrounded a slightly larger one in the middle. Maybe that eye was his lucky break. Then he could go back to his dismal quarters and sleep. The organism from the corner of the universe screamed as two extra arms burst from its sides as cutting edges and it shifted into a more aggressive stance. Ouch, blades. Maybe that well deserved rest would have to wait. Time seemed to slow as the animal lumbered towards him. Draven got ready to move but discovered that his feet were stuck. They weren't budging from their position on the floor. His adversary would meet up with him in about five seconds. There was no time. [Five] He started to pull on each leg individually, hoping that one would come loose. [Four] The crowd quieted as they began to get the idea that something was definitely wrong. [Three] The victory roar of the creature rang out in the enclosure. [Two] The dark man smiled even wider with triumph. [One] Draven looked up in panic to see an organic blade stab down at him. [Zero] Whatever power that held him gave way. He twisted in order to avoid the blow, but it still caught him fatally deep in the side. Ignoring the excruciating pain, he grabbed the extended scaly arm and hauled himself up to the level of the head and jammed his staff into the center eye. He was immediately thrown off by its death throes halfway to unconsciousness already. Game over.  
The dark man cursed vehemently and glanced around. He didn't have to look for the interference for long because right among the cheering aliens, was a figure wearing a cloak like him. Except that the mantle was white with the black symbol on the front. The stranger slowly shook its head no to him before vanishing quietly. Snarling the sorcerer turned back to watch the winner being carried out of the arena because he was out cold and bleeding his life blood. Maybe he will still die. The one dressed in black was about to leave happily before he saw a flash of white and the dying victor disappear. A string of obscenities were hurled at everyone, everywhere in every language he knew. 


End file.
